Caring For Your Lingerie

Guest post by Gemma Sly.

Whether you have just bought yourself some new, expensive lingerie or it has been bought for you, you are going to want to make them last for as long as possible and maintain their great condition. If you manage to care for your lingerie in the right manner, you will find they go the distance and you won’t have to spend lots of money on pricey underwear each and every month.

Like with most things, if you treat your lingerie with tender loving care (TLC) then you will get the most out of them. This means paying attention to how you clean your lingerie items. For instance, it is a good idea to keep the labels that your lingerie comes with, so that you can reference them before putting lingerie into the washing machine or tumble dryer. Often people throw these labels away and so then, when it comes to cleaning, have no idea what their lingerie can and cannot withstand.

Obviously, washing expensive lingerie in a manner it is not meant to be washed in, is a sure way to ruin it, so here are a few more tips and tricks that will help you care for your lingerie and keep it looking as good as new, for as long as possible.

1. It is important to get the frequency for washing your lingerie correct. You should keep in mind that sweat, body lotion and perfume all have negative effects on materials like plastic and spandex, causing them to stretch and break down. Wearing a bra for 3 days in a row will also have a harmful effect on the elastic, so it’s important to wash your lingerie regularly.

2. Do not mix colours when washing lingerie; it may be quicker and you might be feeling lazy but it is never a good idea to just throw pretty lacy whites in with a colour wash. Separate them all into like for like colours and you’ll find your pretty whites will never turn grey again!

3. Ensure that you wash your lingerie with other delicate items; this means taking anything with a buckle or anything metal out of the wash. This will make sure that your lingerie is not marred by any rust spots and that any pretty ribbons and bows are not torn off or ripped.

4. When loading your clothes into the washing machine, make sure there is plenty of space and that you have not squashed your bras in, as this will cause misshaping, as well as damage the padding and the under wiring.

5. If the label says ‘hand wash only’, make sure you follow the instructions; there is going to be avalid reason why it says that after all.

6. If you do a hand wash, make sure you choose a detergent that dissolves easily in warm water and mix it in with the water before adding any lingerie garments. By doing this you ensure that the mixture is thoroughly spread out and unlikely to cause detergent splodges on your lingerie.

7. When hand washing, do not soak your lingerie for longer than ½ an hour and when rinsing, you must make sure that all the detergent has gone, as leaving any in will cause the fibres in the garments to weaken and the garments won’t last as long. Many people will have noticed bra straps and cups becoming looser and this is often a sign of the bra expanding due to excessive washing or ineffective rinsing…not breasts shrinking.

8. When drying, if the weather is nice, try to always hang your lingerie up and get the wind blowing through the material. Do not use clothes pegs on the cups of bras, as this will leave unsightly marks, sometimes even a bulge, which is hard to get rid of.

9. If the weather is not good enough to dry your clothes, use a lingerie bag for delicate clothing, as this will ensure bras do not get tangled up with anything or lose their wiring, as well as making sure that the elastic contained within fancy knickers does not get caught on other clothing’s buttons or zips.

10. How you store your lingerie is also very important. It is better to store them in a way that preserves their natural shape. So if you have expensive lingerie and they came with a hanger or a box, it’s a good idea to return them to that place after they’ve been washed and dried, until you are ready to wear them again.

Gemma Sly writes for Freya Lingerie (lingerie and sports bras up to a K cup). Gemma is a huge fan of all social media and when she isn’t working out in the gym she’s cyber stalking Vin Diesel.